2023 YLMS Competition Results
The Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Harp Competition 2023 was held at Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA on May 21st. We congratulate all 25 students who made the commitment to prepare for and participate in YLMS 2023.
We are thrilled to announce the following medalists and special prize winners of the 2023 YLMS Competition for Young Harpists:
Preliminary
Gold: Aryana Lall
Silver: Sunnie Yan
Bronze: Swara Prithvi
MusicWorks Prize: Sunnie Yan
Harpiana Prize: Swara Prithvi
Level 1
Gold: Charlotte Trinh
Silver: Aaditya Amin
Bronze: Loha Jun
MusicWorks Prize: Aaditya Amin
Level 2
Silver (tie): Michelle Huang
Silver (tie): Camille Chu
Bronze: Ileana Gasquy
MusicWorks Prize: Michelle Huang
Harpiana Prize: Ileana Gasquy
Level 3
Gold: Aden Eva Barbuta
Silver: Viviana Alfaro
Bronze: Rebecca Rudy
Harpiana Prize: Rebecca Rudy
Salzedo Prize: Aryana Lall
A very special thank you to our wonderful judges: Sarah Voynow, Karen Gottlieb, Jessica Siegal, and Janice Ortega
We also congratulate the teachers who supported these students through the competition experience: Sonya Yu, Dominique Piana, Lynn Taffin, Kristal Schwartz, Kristin Lloyd, Linda Rollo, Debbi Ricks, Samantha Mulgrew, Esther Lee, Constance Koo, Jennifer Ellis, and Beverly Wesner-Hoehn
And lastly, thank you to our volunteers who made this all possible: Susie Spiwak, Ryan Conrad, Chloe Tula, Kristin Lloyd, Constance Koo and Jennifer Ellis
Announcing the 2023 Yvonne La Mothe Schwager Competition for Young Harpists
We are happy to announce that we plan to have an in-person competition this year. The competition will be held at the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA on May 21. The application deadline is May 1. Please see here for further details.
YLMS 2023 Competition Repertoire
Our 2023 Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Competition Repertoire is live! We have an array of pieces for both lever and pedal harps, plus a new pop prize option where students can create their own arrangements. A HUGE thank you to the prize donors! We couldn’t do this without you!
Please email bacahs@gmail.com with any questions. For further details, please see here.
Welcome to our new President, Chloe Tula !
Please join us in welcoming Chloe Tula (@chloetheharpist) as our chapter’s new President! After finishing up a three year fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL, Chloe moved to the Bay Area in 2020 and already has played with several of our region’s top orchestras. She also recently won the position of Principal Harp with the Omaha Symphony and is splitting her time between here and Nebraska starting this fall. ✈️🌽 You can see her full concert schedule and read more about her at her website, www.chloetula.com.
We are so excited to have you on board, Chloe!
BACAHS Board Elections !
It’s election season at BACAHS ! A voting link to elect new board members was emailed to BACAHS. Voting is now open until July 15th, 2022. Didn’t get the link ? Interested in serving on the board ? Please email us.
2022 44th American Harp Society National Conference
“Facets of a Diamond”
Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the American Harp Society
June 22-25, 2022
The Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2022 Membership Survey
Despite the latest challenges of the pandemic, BACAHS looks forward to serving you in 2022. In fact, we want to hear from YOU ! Check your inbox for our 2022 Membership Survey, or please email bachas@gmail.com to obtain the link. Your input will greatly help us decide on programming to accommodate our membership’s needs for 2022.
BACAHS Professional Directories
BACAHS is creating a directory of teachers and a directory of professionals on our website as a service to our community. We envision this will be a valuable resource for those in Bay Area seeking to hire a harpist. Current BACAHS members can be listed free of charge by completing forms contained in the monthly Newsletter or by emailing bacahs [at] gmail.com. Please see below for links to directories, which can also be found under the Resources tab in our menu.
Not a member, but want to join so you can be listed in the directory? Need to renew? Click here
Student Scholarships to Attend the 2022 National AHS Conference
The Chapter Ambassador Program helps provide scholarships for students (up to age 21 as of 10/1) to attend and represent their chapter at national American Harp Society events. This year’s Chapter Ambassador program helps students attend the AHS National Conference in Sioux Falls, June 22-25.
Applicants must be members of both AHS ( https://www.harpsociety.org/membership) and BACAHS (https://bacharp.org/membership/).
Applicants who are selected to serve as Chapter Ambassadors will receive $500 from BACAHS plus a matching grant from AHS totaling $1000 to attend the conference. This application is just the first round (being selected by our local chapter). If you are selected by BACAHS to be our nominee, you will then apply to AHS’s national Chapter Ambassador committee to see if you are selected.
By applying to serve as a Chapter Ambassador, you are agreeing that, if selected, you will: 1. Represent our chapter by attending the AHS National Conference June 22-25 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 2. Complete and document a local community engagement project, and 3. Submit all required forms to AHS national.
Learn more about the national program here: https://www.harpsociety.org/chapter-ambassador-program.
Applications are due to BACAHS by 9/25 — link to apply was sent in the September Newsletter, please contact bacahs [at] gmail with any questions.
2021 Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Young Artist Competition Results!
We congratulate the 36 young students who made the commitment and effort to prepare for and participate in the 2021 YLMS Competition. The competition is designed to give local students an opportunity to compete locally and we are so pleased to find that even in this time of COVID/lockdown, the level of participation was on par with previous years.
Without any further ado, we are thrilled to announce the following medalists and special prize winners of the 2021 YLMS Competition for Young Harpists:
Preliminary
Gold $100 – Kaylin Tsai
Silver $75 – Aaditaya Amin
Bronze $50 – Sofia Mohammed
Special Mention – Katelyn Ho
Level 1
Gold $150 – Charlotte Trinh
Silver $100 – Valarie Wang
Bronze $75 – Chloe Gao
Special Mention – Iris Farid
Level 2
Gold $200 – Hannah Chen
Silver $150- Viviana Alfaro
Bronze $100 – Jessica Cheung
Special Mention – Melody Chien
Level 3
Gold $250 – Naomi Sun
Silver $200 – Judy Liu
Bronze $150 – Carter Williams
Special Mention – Kartika Santoso
Special MusicWorks-Harp Editions Prize
Preliminary division: $50 – Kaylin Tsai
Level 1: $50 – Chloe Gao
Level 2: $75 – Bianca Gao
Level 3: $100 – N/A
Special Harpiana Prize
Preliminary division: $50 – Aaditaya Amin
Level 1: $50 – Charlotte Trinh
Level 2: $75 – Jessica Cheung
Level 3: $100 – N/A
Salzedo Prize
$100 – Valarie Wang
Join us in celebrating and listening to our local young harpists in the YLMS Winner’s Recital, as well as a special presentation-performance by guest artist Chloe Tula, a multi-prizewinning, emerging young professional harpist based in the Bay Area.
2021 YLMS Competition for Young Harpists Winners’ Recital
Sunday, May 23rd
4:00 – 5:30pm
Zoom info will be sent by email to membership / contestants. This event is free and open to the public, please email bacahs [at] gmail.com to get the link.
A very special thank you to our wonderful judges panel:
Cheryl Ann Fulton
Sarah Goss
Julia Kay Jamieson
Doug Rioth
Chloe Tula
Sarah Voynow
A very special thank you to the teachers who supported their students through the competition experience:
Anna Maria Mendieta
Dan Levitan
Dominique Piana
Douglas Rioth
Esther Lee
Jennifer Ellis
Jessica Siegel
Karen Thielen
Laura Porter
Linda Wood Rollo
Lynn Taffin
Sonya Yu
And, a very special thank you to the YLMS committee who made it all possible!
Jessica Schaeffer, chair
Karen Gottlieb
Susie Spiwak
Ryan Conrad
Henry Spiller